A History Of The First Baptist Church of Saint Johns, Michigan
Courtesy of Gary Kingsley
In the year of 1849, a Baptist fellowship was begun in Bingham Township, Michigan by Elder C.A. Lamb. This group of Baptist believers, under the leadership of Rev. John Gunderman, organized The First Baptist Church. On November 2, 1855 the Articles of Incorporation were written with a charter membership of fourteen members.
For awhile services of the newly formed organization were held in an upstairs room, which was also a school room, in a building located on the west side of the 200 block of North Clinton Avenue. Next, meetings were held in a school room in a building on the South side of Walker Street. However this arrangement didn’t work for long, since the owner of the building didn’t wish to be disturbed by the singing, praying and preaching while he worked at his furniture finishing business on the floor below the meeting area. So the newly formed congregation moved to another building on Clinton Avenue which had been erected for a bank. There they remained until their own church home was ready for occupancy.
The members were given land for a church building by the Village Company through A. H. Walker and in 1857 the church was built by the church members and pastor. This was the first church to be built in Saint Johns and the second one to be built in Clinton County. Most of the building materials were furnished by John Swegles and John O. Palmer (The City of Saint Johns was named in honor of John Swegles as was Swegles School, now a part of the First Baptist ministries and is now known as Beacon 0f Hope).
Soon after the first church building was finished, two young men presented themselves for baptism. The new church had no baptistery as yet, so the baptismal service was planned for a Sunday afternoon at Stoney Creek. During the night before the planned baptisms, it rained hard enough that a natural pool was formed within the village. At the close of the service, the pastor, congregation and the candidates for baptism left the church and walked to the pool of water. On their way, they passed by Plumstead Hall, which was the meeting place for the Presbyterians, and they too, closed their service and joined the procession to the pool to witness the first baptismal service ever administered in Saint Johns.
Miss Frances Marion Palmer the daughter of John O. Palmer went to Burma as a missionary in 1880 and one of his sons became a Baptist minister. Two other young men from the early church became missionaries.
Most of the early records were either lost or destroyed by fire and it is not known exactly what happened to the first church building, but the records show that in 1886 another church was erected on Church Street in the 200 block on the site of Rodney B. Wilson High School which is now known as the Wilson Center. The construction of the then, new high school necessitated the physical moving of the church building.
First Baptist after relocation to Ottawa St.
The church building was moved to the southwest corner of State (M 21) and Ottawa Streets in 1923. The church underwent several remodeling programs and was used until October, 1963. The building was sold to Dart Parr, who converted it to an office building and it’s now known as the Parr Building.
In the early 1960’s it became apparent that the State Street location would not allow for the enlargement of the facility to accommodate the increased congregational growth. So a building committee composed of Pastor Peter Nieuwkoop, Robert Showers, Robert Acker, Harold Benson, Fred Crowell, James Denniston, Harlan Bouchey, Arthur Bouchey, Dart Parr, Raymond Parr, Nelson Showers, Arthur Romig, Edward Loznak, Donald Tunmore, Oscar Stockwell and Donald Penix were appointed to plan and coordinate the location and construction of a new church building.
A site was obtained at 512 S. US 27, and a ground breaking occurred in September of 1962. Construction began immediately after the ground breaking and continued thru the winter, and the spring and summer of 1963. Several contractors were employed in various phases of construction, but much of the labor was donated by men and women of the church congregation. Pastor Peter Nieuwkoop was the construction coordinator.
The new building was formally dedicated on October 6, 1963 with the theme being “To God Be The Glory, Great Things He Has Done”.
The congregation of First Baptist continued to grow. In the summer of 1978 a new auditorium was added to the south side of the original building. The old auditorium was converted to a dining/large assembly room/gymnasium. Many volunteers helped to keep construction costs down and Pastor Nieuwkoop again was the construction coordinator.
First Baptist after the 1978 auditorium addition/foyer remodel and before the phase 3 remodel
In 1998 the Swegles School building was purchased from St. Johns Public Schools and was utilized for additional classrooms along with welcome additional space for Wednesday night AWANA activities. During 2010 the building was totally gutted and remodeled and became the new home for Beacon of Hope. Beacon of Hope was established as a ministry of First Baptist Church with a commitment to meeting the spiritual and physical needs of families. The center offers peer counseling, Bible studies, workshops on family and parenting topics, a food pantry, new and used clothing, baby equipment, and new and used household items.
With continued growth in attendance, the church determined to provide more seating space with the hope of reducing the number of regular preaching services to one service rather than the current two services. Construction of an addition to the north side of the original building began in the spring of 2011. This addition provided a new dining/large assembly/gymnasium along with kitchen facilities and ground floor office space as well as a new drop off/auditorium entry area. In January of 2013 regular preaching services were reduced to one service with the addition of a live video projection of the main service in a seating area in the gymnasium.
On June 9th, 2013 all of the church services were temporarily moved to the gymnasium where seating for 475 had been established. Phase 3 construction then began in earnest. The north wall of the auditorium was partially merged with the former gym/assembly area allowing for additional downstairs auditorium seating and also some new balcony seating. The balance of the former gym was converted to a much needed foyer area along with a library and new restroom facilities. In the basement area below the former gym, newer classrooms were constructed which reflected the size needs of the present church and Sunday School. On the exterior a new covered entry was built.
On March 30, 2014, the remodeled auditorium was able to be reoccupied. A dedication service was held on May 4, 2014.
Entry, Gym and Offices 2014
https://plus.google.com/photos/110845930262453987007/albums/6015889661093661057
Pastors Who Have Ministered at First Baptist Since 1855
1855 Pastor John Gunderman
Pastor C. A. Lamb
Pastor Weaver
Pastor D. A. Davis
Pastor Wm. Bassett
1865 Pastor H. A. Rose
Pastor D. B. Munger
1869 Pastor McLane
Pastor Clutz
1873 Pastor H. A. Rose
Pastor T. H. Carey
Pastor H. Pettit
1880 Pastor J. Ward Stone
Pastor R. H. Covert
1884 Pastor G. S. Northrup
Pastor M. L. Marvin
1889 Pastor C. W. Dealtry
1890 Pastor G. S. Northrup
1893 Pastor E. M. Blanchard
1897 Pastor E. Willard
1898 Pastor W. F. Allen
1899 Pastor F. E. Wright
1900 Pastor B. McDermand
1904 Pastor G. S. Northrup
1910 Pastor E. P. Knight
1911 Pastor J.E. Gregory
1913 Pastor J. E. Schuler
1913 Pastor N. D. Potter
1917 Pastor P. F. Fistler
1921 Pastor J.M. DeVette
1926 Pastor S. H. Dull
1934 Pastor Thomas Clark
1936 Pastor H. M. Meland
1937 Pastor E. R. McLaughlin
1939 Pastor N. D. Potter
1942 Pastor Don Lougheed
1943 Pastor Peter Dekker
1947 Pastor Griffith C. Rice
1959 Pastor Lorne Thompson
1961 Pastor Peter F. Nieuwkoop
1965 Pastor Roger Harrison
1970 Pastor Paul Travis
1975 Pastor Peter F. Nieuwkoop
1981 Pastor Thomas Dolph
1987 Pastor John Blodgett
1993 — Present Pastor Tim Knaus
2002 – Present Associate Pastor Chad Konieczny
2002 – Present Associate Pastor Ron Sischo